The “mainstream” journalists don’t think of Fox News as well, journalists. When you insult them, it’s fine. But insult the “mainstream,” and “freedom of the press” is endangered. On Monday, the Society of Professional Journalists rushed to agree publicly with the National Association of Black Journalists that Republicans shouldn’t have taunted ABC reporter Rachel Scott for asking Rep. Mike Johnson about being an election denier. Rep. Virginia Foxx told her to shut up. “Journalists should be able to hold those in power accountable without being harassed.”
But SPJ didn’t protest in January 2022 when President Biden called Fox reporter Peter Doocy a “stupid son of a bitch.” Earlier this year, SPJ issued a long statement attacking Fox News over the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit. SPJ did tweet about Fox News…when they publicly supported CNN’s Jim Acosta when he temporarily lost his White House (yelling) credentials:
“@FoxNews announced on Wednesday that it supports @CNN’s efforts to restore Jim Acosta’s White House credential after the network filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration.” https://t.co/SAMqzmIlxh
— Society of Professional Journalists (@spj_tweets) November 14, 2018
Reporters never see themselves as doing the harassing and badgering. Here’s the SPJ memo supporting Rachel Scott on LinkedIn (and Twitter as well):
The implication here is that Republicans don’t like black reporters. Nobody would expect the NABJ to defend Peter Doocy, but you can bet they would also stay silent if Fox’s Kevin Corke were insulted. They’re clearly invested in Rachel Scott:
“We are disappointed by those select few members of Congress who took such actions against Rachel,” said NABJ President Ken Lemon. “Reporters should be allowed to do their jobs without harassment and badgering. The freedom of the press must be respected at all levels of government.”
Scott is the Senior Congressional Correspondent for ABC News. She is a former “NABJ Baby,” participating in the NABJ Student Multimedia Project, held during annual conventions, when she was an aspiring journalist. In 2020, Scott was named NABJ’s Emerging Journalist of the Year.
“Rachel’s track record speaks for itself,” said NABJ Vice President-Broadcast Walter Smith Randolph. “We know she will not be intimidated and will continue her strong reporting. As journalists, it is our job to hold the powerful accountable, and Scott does it with poise and professionalism.”
A free press is the cornerstone of American democracy. Our members and journalists at large, should be able to do their jobs in a professional environment.
As you might expect, the NABJ is a leftist lobby. In 2018, it named ESPN’s Trump-trashing Jemele Hill their “Journalist of the Year” and had Jesse Jackson as their convention keynote speaker.
